realtor Archives - Kimberly Howell Properties

Why Many Agents Won’t Show You A Home “Right Now!”

January 11, 2016 by khproperties Leave a Comment

In real estate, the phone rings a lot. People are searching homes for sale online and want to see them. While you can get a lot of information from online sources, nothing beats seeing the home in person. And that’s part of what real estate agents do, we show homes. Many people see a home online and get excited and want to see it right away and we certainly don’t blame them, we would want to see it as fast as possible too! As agents, you have to balance a lot of factors (and juggle a lot of schedules) in order to show property. Some people want to see the house right now, but there are often many reasons why the agent can’t show it to you that very second. It’s not that we don’t want the business (that’s just crazy!), but Realtors are running a small business and like any savvy business person, they have to wear many hats and balance many items through a day in order to be successful.

Time Management

To put it simply, we as agents need to manage our time. We don’t sit around lounging in the office just waiting for the next phone call to come in. If we did, we’d all be broke. With the internet and cell phones we are much more accessible, but we’re not necessarily free at the moment we take that call. We have a daily dose of inspections, paperwork, showings, closings, and meetings, plus the usual things – dinner, family time, rest, etc. Agents have schedules to keep. Even occasionally, if we are free at the moment, we know that if we go show houses right this moment, we will miss my next appointment. Time management is a huge part of our daily lives.

Qualifying Buyers

We know a lot of people that want to buy a house don’t necessarily like this step. Every agent has had a prospective client ask them, “What does it matter to you if I’m not preapproved, I know I can get the loan.” This is one of the hardest things for a prospective client to deal with, because they feel as if we are calling them into question – almost as if we were saying “That’s great, but I don’t trust you.” Because there isn’t a relationship between us yet, there isn’t a ton of trust between the buyer and the agent. We have to build that overtime. There’s a certain amount that we must take as a leap of faith, but there is a lot of “getting to know each other” in there too. Sitting down and qualifying a buyer isn’t just about a loan, it’s also about getting to know the prospective client (and you getting to know your prospective agent) and getting to know what their goals are in buying a home. We want to help you find the right home, not just any home.

Paperwork

If you like what you’re hearing and you’d like to work with with the Realtor you’ve been talking to, there is some paperwork that should be taken care of. Here in San Antonio we use a Residential Buyer/Tenant Representation Agreement to lay out the rules of our work together and define the relationship as that of buyer and agent. Making someone your agent creates a situation that allows us to offer you our advice and opinions and binds us to work for you and you to work with us.

Safety

Let’s face it, there are some strange people in this world and there are more than a couple of stories about agents going to a showing and being attacked. Kimberly Howell Properties encourages our agents to play it safe and avoid potentially dangerous situations. Sadly, it’s a reality in the world that not all people have noble thoughts or deeds.

Experience

Agents with more experience tend to be less likely to run out and show homes at a moment’s notice. Newer agents tend to be more willing, because they often have less business and are trying to build to the point where they are working from referrals and past clients. It takes time to build your real estate clientele up to that point. It’s not a knock on new agents, many of them are incredibly talented agents, but they simply are trying to build their business. So they take those calls and rush out to show the home. Ask any agent with experience and they’ll tell you – they were there once too. A lot of what agents do takes structure and discipline, so once again, there is a balance that must be found and maintained.

image courtesy of seaofash

Why You Should Use an Agent to Sell Your Home

January 27, 2015 by khproperties 1 Comment

Why Use an Agent to Sell Your Home?

When you’re ready to sell you home, there’s a lot to consider. Some choose to go it alone and pursue the for sale by owner route (often said as “fis-bo” based on the initials FSBO) in order to save some money by eliminating the need to pay a listing agent (a typical FSBO sale will still pay the buyer’s agent). Obviously, there are reasons why someone might choose this route, but we encourage you to think of some of the reasons to not and instead to use an agent to sell your home.

You may not get as many showing if you go it alone. Real estate agents utilize the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), which is basically a database of homes for sale by other agents that belong to that particular MLS. Our local MLS in San Antonio has powerful search features that allow us to take a buyer’s criteria and find homes that match. The MLS does not show us FSBO listings, so we may never even see your home as a potential for our buyers. In addition, agents may not want to work with a FSBO seller because they are often not up to date on the legalities of selling a home, making the transaction much more difficult and sometimes dangerous. Working with experienced agents and using contract forms from the Texas Real Estate Commission and Texas Association of REALTORS® helps keep everything legal and makes the process much smoother.

Selling your home can be an emotional process. You’ve lived in your home for years and created strong ties and memories in it. People get emotional about their home – it’s just a fact of nature. Having a real estate agent working as the negotiator can help curb some of that and prevent trouble when buyers and sellers clash. As REALTORS®, our job is to keep your best interests in mind without giving up any information that might be detrimental to those negotiations.

Selling your home can be a full time job. Showings, phone calls, questions, documents, negotiations…selling your home can take a lot of time if you don’t have someone working for you. Your real estate agent will set up showings, coordinate with inspectors and repairmen, take the calls, etc. Our job is to help take the stress out of the process and accomplish your goals (do you want to sell for top dollar, do you need to move fast – these are the kinds of questions we ask to know how best to handle your personal situation).

Your agent has a network of people who are in the business and can help get your home sold. Agents do a lot more than stick a sign in your yard and get your home listed on Zillow. We know others in the industry and we talk about your home to colleagues who might have the perfect buyer for your home. We attend events, have coffee with other agents, and have an office of REALTORS® that we talk to everyday. Many agents sell homes via word of mouth. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a conversation where an agent is talking about the kind of house their buyer needs and the proverbial lightbulb goes off in another agent’s head – that’s the exact description of the house they’re helping you sell!

Not everyone should be checking out your home. Agents don’t like to drive around aimlessly looking at homes – we have a business to run – so we pre-qualify our clients, both in terms of what they’re looking for and getting them with a lender so that we know what they can afford. There’s little need to show a million dollar home to a couple making minimum wage (unless they just hit the lottery!). By pre-qualifying the buyers going through your home, we have a better idea of who’s in your home, which saves you time and can also add a layer of security to letting strangers into your home.

Negotiating is about finding the best possible outcome for all parties. Negotiations can wreck a deal more than any other single part of the transaction. Negotiations are not about “winning” – they are about finding the best possible solution for everyone involved. You want to sell you home, but they buyers are asking for a lot of closing costs and some other items. The art of negotiation needs to look at the bottom line and the motivation behind the requests. Perhaps the buyers don’t have a lot of cash on hand, so those closing costs are important. Perhaps we can raise the price slightly to offset those costs to you and make the deal work. It’s all about viewing everything from differing angles and trying to find the best solution.

We view your home with a totally different perspective.You love your home. You know its flaws and have learned to deal with them in the time you’ve lived there. We see your home from a buyer’s perspective. What might be normal for you (that tricky toilet handle you have to wiggle just right) will send a buyer packing. We can help you see your home the way a buyer is going to see it and help decide what items are essential to fix and what items can stay as is. At the end of the day, the sale of your home is a financial transaction and its the numbers that matter, not the emotional feelings that surround it.

Lawsuits. None of us want to be sued. Buyers, sellers, and agents are never hoping that someone will sue them, but it happens sometimes. When a lawsuit arises, you can have some comfort knowing that the contract forms we use have been poured over by lawyers and written in a way that helps protect the parties involved. Real estate agents carry E&O insurance, which helps protect them and their clients in the event of a lawsuit. Could you take on a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of dollars on your own? What if you lose? Who’s going to pay for the damages? Real estate agents carry this insurance for just that reason. We also carry with us knowledge of the law when it comes to disclosures and responsibilities of the parties so that everyone is performing their obligations correctly.

While going it alone when you sell your home could save you some money, it could also cost you much more. Our skills, experience, and expertise are in the field of real estate, it’s what we do everyday so that we can efficiently assist you in selling your home (or buying a home). We’re here to help you get the most from your home buying or selling experience.

this post is based on an article from ivestopedia

image courtesy of Alan Cleaver

What makes a great REALTOR®?

June 25, 2013 by khproperties Leave a Comment

The Great REALTOR®

What does it take to be a great REALTOR®? What do I need to be successful in the real estate market? Pursuant to answering these questions, I asked those whom I consider successful, probed the internet and begin reading literature.

Many attribute success to training. Ideally, one should seek a mentor who is willing to provide that guidance and encouragement you will need. Secondly, it is imperative that REALTORS® seek an environment that esteems education highly. Logically, it would be advantageous for the broker to facilitate a training program that would enhance agents at all levels. It is then when the practicing will begin to appreciate the knowledge passed on.

Communication is thought to be the number one skill of a great agent by some. It is undoubtedly very important to communicate effectively as this will be the crux of ensuring information is readily passed between all stakeholders. The list of what makes a great REALTOR® goes on to include great marketing, embracing technology, considering it as your business, having people and networking skills, having perfect showings, and the list goes on.

I see it as one factor that will ultimately make you the great REALTOR®. One must understand the “why” of being an agent. That “why” must be anchored in servitude. That is to say your commitment has to be driven from caring and wanted to help. If the sole purpose is of a selfish nature, the fruits will never manifest. Your clients will see that though you profess you are looking out for their benefits; your actions will prove otherwise. If you resolve in your mind, that whomever you are serving is worthy, the rewards (friendship, trust, confidence, loyalty, etc.) will follow in abundance.

image courtesy of Realtor Action Center

Should I Work With a Realtor When Building a New Home?

May 30, 2013 by khproperties Leave a Comment

Building From the Ground Up

I’m often asked (or see questions) about whether one should work with a Realtor when buying and building a new home. When you visit a new home community and sit with the sales representative for a builder in San Antonio, you’re sitting with the seller. The sales rep is working for the seller (the builder) and although they are friendly and shouldn’t take advantage of you, the fact is they are not required to have your best interests at heart. Since they work for the builder, their job is to a) get you to buy the new home and b) make the builder as much profit as they possibly can.

Some people assume that if they don’t work with a Realtor when building a new home they might be able to shave a few dollars off the price. Some are even told this by the onsite sales rep, which is a terribly deceptive practice – and if they do offer you any savings, it is often in the form of upgrades, which are usually marked up in price significantly and are not a true dollar for dollar representation of what they may be offering you. The builder calculates Realtor commissions into their pricing structure. If they sell the home for less, it could potentially drag down the prices of their other homes (remember market pricing is based off of local sales trends – if homes of comparable size and quality start selling for less, depreciation in value will occur). I’ve seen many builders offer higher percentage commissions and large (tens of thousands) buyer incentives on homes at times – do you think they would offer all of this if they didn’t have their profit calculated down to the penny?

Your Realtor will act as your adviser, watchdog, point of contact, advocate, and master of ceremonies during the process (which is much longer than the closing time needed to buy a house that’s already been built). Because of the length of time it takes to build a new home, things can go wrong and before you know it, there is pressure to shrug it off and move on with the process. Your agent will help prevent that and fight for you in the event it does.

One Huge Note

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it a thousand times more. Whatever you do, even if you don’t work with a Realtor when building a new home (I’m a realist, I know some people won’t no matter how much I point out the value), get a phased inspection of the home from a reliable, local inspector. Most inspectors offer a series of inspections during the build process after certain milestones (foundation pour, framing, wiring and plumbing, etc.). This is the most important thing you can do. The builder will tell you about their 7-step (or more) inspection process when building a new home, but those inspectors do not work for you – they work for the builder. It will cost you some money, but it will potentially save you headaches and more money down the road.

photo courtesy of jongrant33

Homeowner Mistakes REALTOR® for Intruder, Shoots Husband

May 2, 2013 by khproperties Leave a Comment

Last night, on the 2600 block of Grayson Street in San Antonio, a local off-duty Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy was shot as he entered a home with his REALTOR® wife. Details are still not fully clear, but it appears the couple were viewing the home, when the homeowner heard someone in the house and grabbed their gun. The Sheriff’s Deputy was shot, but is said to be in stable condition. Certainly not the home showing everyone had hoped for.

REALTOR® Safety

As agents, we should remember to be cautious when entering any home, whether occupied or vacant. A good rule of thumb is to a) always use CSS (Centralized Showing Service) to sschedule showings, b) knock or ring the bell (even if the property is listed as vacant), c) announce yourself as you enter, and d) be on the lookout for an signs of occupancy (running water in showers is often a good one to listen for). We all have stories about entering a home where someone didn’t expect us and these steps will never guarantee your safety, but they will help.

Seller Safety

Make sure you give your agent current contact info, so that the showing service we use to set up appointments knows how best to get a hold of you. There are several different types of notifications that your agent can require from CSS: go and show (no contact needed), courtesy (a call will be placed to you, but if no one answers, CSS will just leave a message), and appointment required (CSS must speak with the owner before granting approval). Even with these protections in place, the system does fail from time to time. Stay alert, but also be aware that it is possible that someone might enter your home unannounced. If this happens, explain to the agent that you weren’t notified properly (depending on how your showings were set up by your agent) and ask them to call CSS to confirm the showing with you (so you’re not letting a stranger into your home). You should also call your REALTOR® to make sure the info CSS has on file is up to date and correct.

We’re happy, as it sounds like this could have ended much worse, although it is sad to see someone did get shot. We hope we won’t be hearing any more news like this as the selling season picks up and the chances for these sorts of situations increases and we wish the best for the Sheriff’s Deputy in his recovery.

image courtesy of Drummer Photo Experience

special thanks to KSAT News for reporting on this story

Open House Luncheon at 4215 Moonlight Way

July 18, 2012 by khproperties Leave a Comment

We love to showcase our homes with open house luncheons, so we’re going to do another one! This time, we’ll be showing 4215 Moonlight Way, a custom built, Austin stone home with incredible amenities. Come join us Thursday, July 19th from 11:30AM to 1:00PM – tour the house, grab a bite to eat or a sip to drink and talk with some of our agents. Not only will you love the home, but you’ll love the people we work with. So let’s go San Antonio, what are you waiting for?